The Atlantic has published this detailed article describes how the Internet works and doesn't work in China.   The bottom line is that, in China, Internet censorship is sporadic yet effective.  “If you want to have traction in China, you have to be in China,†she told me. And being inside China…
This speaker's name is Randy Pausch. This video shows a farewell speech that Pausch originally gave to his students at Carnegie Mellon. This video is well worth your eleven minutes, especially if you have far more than eleven minutes to live. One of Pausch's closing lines: "If you live properly,…
I received this email from a regular reader in response to one of my responses to my Creationism in Florida Schools post:
“The real question that comes to my mind after reading this St. Petersburg Times poll is, should we allow popular demand to decide what is taught in science classes?”
How about for deciding what is taught in science, deciding tax policy, setting social programs, setting foreign policy, etc., etc., etc.? Should we allow popular demand to decide for these as well? I think we currently do, and I think it is with the same disastrous results. The next logical question is how should we pick the deciders? The problem is, we will never move to the next logical question.
What was considered ancient political wisdom at the time of the Caesars was: If the people can vote themselves bread and circuses, they will. Concentration of capital is the primary benefit of a taxation system. It allows big things to be done by a people of whom no individual member can afford. Government social programs (a form of insurance that used to be the province of churches, thus the tradition of tithing) are an example of dilution of capital. As is the Economic Stimulus Package that raced through our government checks and balances without much of either.
The examples of Ancient Greece, the Medici families (practically an empire unto themselves), the California legislature, and the Summerhill project (as described in the book by A.S. Neill) show that, …
The March 2008 addition of Consumer Reports contains an article called "Nine Ways to a Longer Life." There's lots of common sense advice, such as get enough sleep, exercise and don't smoke. There is also some less-obvious good advice, including the need to eat the right kind of fat. For instance, the…
Here in America, we get the support of superdelegates the tried and true way.  If you want a superdelegate's support, pay them money.  This sordid practice was described by Massie Ritsch, Communications Director for the Center for Responsive Politics, in an interview with Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow: MASSIE RITSCH: Well,…